Languages of Nepal

Languages of Nepal, referred to as Nepalese languages in the country's constitution, are the languages having at least an ancient history or origin inside the sovereign territory of Nepal, spoken by Nepalis.

Languages of Nepal
Ethnolinguistic map of Nepal
Official	Nepali
Semi-official	Newar, Maithili, Limbu, Bhojpuri, Bajjika, Tamang, Magar, Gurung, Tharu, Awadhi,
Indigenous	Many Indo-Aryan languages and Sino-Tibetan languages; Kurukh, Santali
Vernacular	Nepalese English
Foreign	English
Signed	Nepali Sign Language  • Jhankot Sign Language  • Jumla Sign Language  • Ghandruk Sign Language
Keyboard layout	QWERTY/Nepali keyboard

There were 124 mother tongues according to the "National Report on caste/ethnicity, language & religion", National Population and Housing Census 2021 in Nepal.

Nepali accounted as a mother tongue for 44.86% while also being a second additional language for 46.2% of the total population.^[1] Most belong to the Indo-Aryan and Sino-Tibetan language families.

The official working language at federal level is Nepali, but the constitution provisions each province to choose one or more additional official working languages.^[2] The Language Commission of Nepal in 2021 recommended 14 official languages for different provinces of Nepal.^[3]

The mother languages of Nepal, or languages of Nepali origin are sometimes referred to as Nepali languages.^[4][5]

National languages

According to the constitution of Nepal: "All languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal are the languages of the nation".^[6] Many of the languages also have various dialects. For example, the Rai people have about 30 languages. Some of the languages are similar and may be considered dialects. The distinction between dialects and languages is sometimes unclear.^[7]

Classification

Nepal's languages are mostly either Indo-European or Sino-Tibetan, while only a very few of them are Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian.

Out of 123 languages of Nepal, the 48 Indo-European languages, which are of the Indo-Aryan (Indic) sub-family (excluding English), constitute the largest group in terms of the numeric strength of their speakers, nearly 82.1%^[8] of population. Nepali, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Awadhi, the Tharu languages and Urdu fall in this group.

The Sino-Tibetan family of Nepal's languages forms a part of its Tibeto-Burman group. Though spoken by relatively fewer people than the Indo-European family (17.3%^[8] of population), it includes a greater number of languages, about 63 languages. Languages belonging to this group include Tamang, Nepal Bhasa (Newar), Magar and Limbu.

The small declining number of Dravidian languages are represented by Kurux, and the Munda languages of the Austroasiatic family by Santali and Mundari.

The indigenous languages of Nepal that predated the influx of Indic, Tibeto-Burman, and other families barely survive in the Kusunda language, which is nearly extinct today.^[9]

Nepal also has at several indigenous village sign languages: Jhankot Sign Language, Jumla Sign Language, and Ghandruk Sign Language, in addition to the Nepali Sign Language designed for national use.^[10]

Number of speakers by language family
(2011 Census)

Language family	Number	Percentage
Indo-European	21,752,496	82.10%
Sino-Tibetan	4,584,871	17.31%
Austro-Asiastic	49,858	0.19%
Dravidian	33,651	0.13%
Others/Not reported	73,375	0.27%
Total	26,494,504	100%

Constitutional status

Street sign in Ranjana script, Devanagari script and English in Kathmandu

Part 1 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (2072 B.S.) contains these provisions about the languages of Nepal:^[2]

• Article 6: All languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal are the languages of the nation.
• Article 7(1): The Nepali language in the Devanagari script shall be the official language of Nepal.
• Article 7(2): A Province may, by a provincial law, determine one or more than one languages of the nation spoken by a majority of people within the Province as its official language or languages, in addition to the Nepali language.

Languages in Nepal as of 2021

There were 124 mother tongues according to the "National Report on caste/ethnicity, language & religion", National Population and Housing Census 2021 in Nepal.

Nepali accounted as a mother tongue for 44.86% while also being a second additional language for 46.2% of the total population.^[1]

Mother tongues

There were 124 mother tongues according to the "National Report on caste/ethnicity, language & religion", National Population and Housing Census 2021 in Nepal.111 were previously reported in the earlier census 2011 and 13 were newly found in the census 2021.

The newly added mother tongues were Bhote, Lowa, Chum/Nubri, Baragunwa, Nar-Phu, Ranatharu, Karmarong, Mugali, Tichhurong Poike, Sadri, Done, Munda/Mudiyari and Kewarat. ^[1]

Population by mother tongue and sex, NPHC 2021^[1]

Number of native speakers (2021 Census)

Rank	Language	Total	Percentage
	All MotherTongues	29,164,578	100
1	Nepali	13,084,457	44.86
2	Maithili	3,222,389	11.05
3	Bhojpuri	1,820,795	6.24
4	Tharu	1,714,091	5.88
5	Tamang	1,423,075	4.88
6	Bajjika	1,133,764	3.89
7	Avadhi	864,276	2.96
8	Nepalbhasha(Newari)	863,380	2.96
9	Magar Dhut	810,315	2.78
10	Doteli	494,864	1.7
11	Urdu	413,785	1.42
12	Yakthung/Limbu	350,436	1.2
13	Gurung	328,074	1.12
14	Magahi	230,117	0.79
15	Baitadeli	152,666	0.52
16	Rai	144,512	0.5
17	Achhami	141,444	0.48
18	Bantawa	138,003	0.47
19	Rajbanshi	130,163	0.45
20	Sherpa	117,896	0.4
21	Khash	117,511	0.4
22	Bajhangi	99,631	0.34
23	Hindi	98,399	0.34
24	Magar Kham	91,753	0.31
25	Chamling	89,037	0.31
26	Ranatharu	77,766	0.27
27	Chepang	58,392	0.2
28	Bajureli	56,486	0.19
29	Santhali	53,677	0.18
30	Danuwar	49,992	0.17
31	Darchuleli	45,649	0.16
32	Uranw/Urau	38,873	0.13
33	Kulung	37,912	0.13
34	Angika	35,952	0.12
35	Majhi	32,917	0.11
36	Sunuwar	32,708	0.11
37	Thami	26,805	0.09
38	Ganagai	26,281	0.09
39	Thulung	24,405	0.08
40	Bangla	23,774	0.08
41	Ghale	23,049	0.08
42	Sampang	21,597	0.07
43	Marwadi	21,333	0.07
44	Dadeldhuri	21,300	0.07
45	Dhimal	20,583	0.07
46	Tajpuriya	20,349	0.07
47	Kumal	18,435	0.06
48	Khaling	16,514	0.06
49	Musalman	16,252	0.06
50	Wambule	15,285	0.05
51	Bahing/Bayung	14,449	0.05
52	Yakkha	14,241	0.05
53	Sanskrit	13,906	0.05
54	Bhujel	13,086	0.04
55	Bhote	12,895	0.04
56	Darai	12,156	0.04
57	Yamphu/Yamphe	10,744	0.04
58	Nachhiring	9,906	0.03
59	Hyolmo/Yholmo	9,658	0.03
60	Dumi	8,638	0.03
61	Jumli	8,338	0.03
62	Bote	7,687	0.03
63	Mewahang	7,428	0.03
64	Puma	6,763	0.02
65	Pahari	5,946	0.02
66	Athpahariya	5,580	0.02
67	Dungmali	5,403	0.02
68	Jirel	5,167	0.02
69	Tibetan	5,053	0.02
70	Dailekhi	4,989	0.02
71	Chum/Nubri	4,284	0.01
72	Chhantyal	4282	0.01
73	Raji	4247	0.01
74	Thakali	4220	0.01
75	Meche	4203	0.01
76	Koyee	4152	0.01
77	Lohorung	3884	0.01
78	Kewarat	3469	0.01
79	Dolpali	3244	0.01
80	Done	3100	0.01
81	Mugali	2834	0.01
82	Jero/Jerung	2817	0.01
83	Karmarong	2619	0.01
84	Chhintang	2564	0.01
85	Lhopa	2348	0.01
86	Lapcha	2240	0.01
87	Munda/Mudiyari	2107	0.01
88	Manange	2022	0.01
89	Chhiling	2011	0.01
90	Dura	1991	0.01
91	Tilung	1969	0.01
92	Sign Language	1784	0.01
93	Byansi	1706	0.01
94	Balkura/Baram	1539	0.01
95	Baragunwa	1536	0.01
96	Sadri	1347	0
97	English	1323	0
98	Magar Kaike	1225	0
99	Sonaha	1182	0
100	Hayu/Vayu	1133	0
101	Kisan	1004	0
102	Punjabi	871	0
103	Dhuleli	786	0
104	Khamchi(Raute)	741	0
105	Lungkhim	702	0
106	Lowa	624	0
107	Kagate	611	0
108	Waling/Walung	545	0
109	Nar-Phu	428	0
110	Lhomi	413	0
111	Tichhurong Poike	410	0
112	Kurmali	397	0
113	Koche	332	0
114	Sindhi	291	0
115	Phangduwali	247	0
116	Belhare	177	0
117	Surel	174	0
118	Malpande	161	0
119	Khariya	132	0
120	Sadhani	122	0
121	Hariyanwi	114	0
122	Sam	106	0
123	Bankariya	86	0
124	Kusunda	23	0
125	Others	4201	0.01
126	Not stated	346	0

Second Language

There were 25 languages that were being used as second language by more than 10 thousand population on each in the "National Report on caste/ethnicity, language & religion", National Population and Housing Census 2021 in Nepal, whereas there were only 18 such languages reported as second language in the earlier census 2011.^[1]

Population by second language, NPHC 2021

Rank	Second Language	Total	Percentage
	Total	29164578	100
1	No Second Language	14023086	48.08
2	Nepali	13482904	46.23
3	Maithili	267621	0.92
4	Hindi	223106	0.76
5	Bhojpuri	138572	0.48
6	English	102561	0.35
7	Tharu	89606	0.31
8	Bajjika	86062	0.3
9	Avadhi	75651	0.26
10	Urdu	72128	0.25
11	Tamang	71569	0.25
12	Magar Dhut	54143	0.19
13	Bhote	45292	0.16
14	Bantawa	43536	0.15
15	Nepalbhasha(Newari)	32604	0.11
16	Chamling	29253	0.1
17	Magahi	29191	0.1
18	Gurung	23698	0.08
19	Yakthung/Limbu	19705	0.07
20	Thulung	17187	0.06
21	Magar Kham	16814	0.06
22	Bahing/Bayung	15104	0.05
23	Rai	14398	0.05
24	Doteli	14344	0.05
25	Sampang	14261	0.05
26	Khaling	10370	0.04
27	Baitadeli	9521	0.03
28	Sherpa	9435	0.03
29	Sanskrit	6615	0.02
30	Achhami	6522	0.02
31	Angika	6127	0.02
32	Musalman	6084	0.02
33	Kulung	6039	0.02
34	Dumi	5870	0.02
35	Dadeldhuri	5535	0.02
36	Bangla	5447	0.02
37	Wambule	5227	0.02
38	Darchuleli	4272	0.01
39	Puma	4271	0.01
40	Rajbanshi	4103	0.01
41	Bote	3891	0.01
42	Mewahang	3669	0.01
43	Marwadi	3449	0.01
44	Nachhiring	3176	0.01
45	Tibetan	3134	0.01
46	Bajhangi	2641	0.01
47	Khash	2607	0.01
48	Chhintang	2135	0.01
49	Tilung	1762	0.01
50	Sunuwar	1597	0.01
51	Belhare	1491	0.01
52	Punjabi	1274	0
53	Dungmali	1271	0
54	Jero/Jerung	1245	0
55	Jumli	1125	0
56	Bajureli	1076	0
57	Dhimal	999	0
58	Majhi	971	0
59	Ghale	963	0
60	Koyee	928	0
61	Ranatharu	871	0
62	Thami	859	0
63	Danuwar	845	0
64	Chepang	833	0
65	Sign Language	828	0
66	Bhujel	740	0
67	Thakali	733	0
68	Yakkha	704	0
69	Santhali	703	0
70	Chhiling	685	0
71	Ganagai	644	0
72	Lohorung	622	0
73	Kumal	615	0
74	Kagate	615	0
75	Darai	591	0
76	Khamchi(Raute)	526	0
77	Magar Kaike	515	0
78	Hyolmo/Yholmo	508	0
79	Yamphu/Yamphe	494	0
80	Dailekhi	434	0
81	Chhantyal	394	0
82	Hayu/Vayu	349	0
83	Koche	335	0
84	Jirel	332	0
85	Athpahariya	320	0
86	Balkura/Baram	307	0
87	Waling/Walung	304	0
88	Manange	304	0
89	Dura	278	0
90	Uranw/Urau	245	0
91	Lapcha	242	0
92	Sindhi	217	0
93	Tajpuriya	209	0
94	Dhuleli	187	0
95	Pahari	142	0
96	Lhopa	129	0
97	Dolpali	127	0
98	Sadhani	125	0
99	Sadri	106	0
100	Baragunwa	89	0
101	Phangduwali	85	0
102	Hariyanwi	84	0
103	Sam	79	0
104	Malpande	78	0
105	Raji	76	0
106	Meche	75	0
107	Tichhurong Poike	72	0
108	Surel	64	0
109	Kurmali	60	0
110	Bankariya	42	0
111	Kewarat	38	0
112	Sonaha	35	0
113	Karmarong	34	0
114	Kisan	33	0
115	Byansi	32	0
116	Kusunda	32	0
117	Lungkhim	28	0
118	Mugali	23	0
119	Others	159	0
120	Not stated	8105	0.03

Number of native speakers (2011 Census)^[8]

Rank	Language	Language family	Count	Percentage
1	Nepali	Indo-European	11,826,953	44.64%
2	Maithili	Indo-European	3,092,530	11.67%
3	Bhojpuri	Indo-European	1,584,958	5.98%
4	Tharu	Indo-European	1,529,875	5.77%
5	Tamang	Sino-Tibetan	1,353,311	5.11%
6	Nepal Bhasa (Newar)	Sino-Tibetan	846,557	3.20%
7	Bajjika	Indo-European	793,416	2.99%
8	Magar	Sino-Tibetan	788,530	2.98%
9	Dotyali/Doteli	Indo-European	787,827	2.97%
10	Urdu	Indo-European	691,546	2.61%
11	Awadhi	Indo-European	501,752	1.89%
12	Limbu	Sino-Tibetan	343,603	1.30%
13	Gurung	Sino-Tibetan	325,622	1.23%
14	Baitadeli	Indo-European	272,524	1.03%
15	Rai (Kiranti)	Sino-Tibetan	159,114	0.60%
16	Aachami	Indo-European	142,787	0.54%
17	Bantawa (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	132,583	0.50%
18	Rajbanshi	Indo-European	122,214	0.46%
19	Sherpa	Sino-Tibetan	114,830	0.43%
20	Hindi	Indo-European	77,569	0.29%
21	Chamling (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	76,800	0.29%
22	Bajhangi	Indo-European	67,581	0.26%
23	Santhali	Austro-Asiatic	49,858	0.19%
24	Chepang	Sino-Tibetan	48,476	0.18%
25	Danuwar	Indo-European	45,821	0.17%
26	Sunuwar	Sino-Tibetan	37,898	0.14%
27	Magahi	Indo-European	35,614	0.13%
28	Uranw/Kurux	Dravidian	33,651	0.13%
29	Kulung (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	33,170	0.13%
30	Kham (Magar)	Sino-Tibetan	27,113	0.10%
31	Rajasthani	Indo-European	25,394	0.10%
32	Majhi	Indo-European	24,422	0.09%
33	Thami	Sino-Tibetan	23,151	0.09%
34	Bhujel	Sino-Tibetan	21,715	0.08%
35	Bengali	Indo-European	21,061	0.08%
36	Thulung (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	20,659	0.08%
37	Yakkha	Sino-Tibetan	19,558	0.07%
38	Dhimal	Sino-Tibetan	19,300	0.07%
39	Tajpuriya	Indo-European	18,811	0.07%
40	Angika	Indo-European	18,555	0.07%
41	Sampang (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	18,270	0.07%
42	Khaling (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	14,467	0.05%
43	Wambule (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	13,470	0.05%
44	Kumal	Indo-European	12,222	0.05%
45	Darai	Indo-European	11,677	0.04%
46	Bahing (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	11,658	0.04%
47	Bajureli	Indo-European	10,704	0.04%
48	Hyolmo	Sino-Tibetan	10,176	0.04%
49	Nachiring (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	10,041	0.04%
50	Yamphu (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	9,208	0.03%
51	Bote	Indo-European	8,766	0.03%
52	Ghale	Sino-Tibetan	8,092	0.03%
53	Dumi (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	7,638	0.03%
54	Lepcha	Sino-Tibetan	7,499	0.03%
55	Puma (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	6,686	0.03%
56	Dungmali (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	6,260	0.02%
57	Darchuleli	Indo-European	5,928	0.02%
58	Aathpariya (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	5,530	0.02%
59	Thakali	Sino-Tibetan	5,242	0.02%
60	Jirel	Sino-Tibetan	4,829	0.02%
61	Mewahang (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	4,650	0.02%
62	Sign Language	−	4,476	0.02%
63	Tibetan	Sino-Tibetan	4,445	0.02%
64	Meche	Sino-Tibetan	4,375	0.02%
65	Chhantyal	Sino-Tibetan	4,283	0.02%
66	Raji	Sino-Tibetan	3,758	0.01%
67	Lohorung (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	3,716	0.01%
68	Chhintang (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	3,712	0.01%
69	Gangai	Indo-European	3,612	0.01%
70	Pahari	Sino-Tibetan	3,458	0.01%
71	Dailekhi	Indo-European	3,102	0.01%
72	Lhopa	Sino-Tibetan	3,029	0.01%
73	Dura	Sino-Tibetan	2,156	0.01%
74	Koch	Sino-Tibetan	2,080	0.01%
75	Chiling (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	2,046	0.01%
76	English	Indo-European	2,045	0.01%
77	Jerung (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	1,763	0.01%
78	Khas	Indo-European	1,747	0.01%
79	Sanskrit	Indo-European	1,669	0.01%
80	Dolpali	Indo-European	1,667	0.01%
81	Hayu	Sino-Tibetan	1,520	0.01%
82	Tilung (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	1,424	0.01%
83	Koi (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	1,271	0.00%
84	Kisan	Indo-European	1,178	0.00%
85	Waling (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	1,169	0.00%
86	Musalban	Indo-European	1,075	0.00%
87	Hariyani/Haryanvi	Indo-European	889	0.00%
88	Jumli	Indo-European	851	0.00%
89	Lhomi	Sino-Tibetan	808	0.00%
90	Punjabi	Indo-European	808	0.00%
91	Belhare (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	599	0.00%
92	Odia	Indo-European	584	0.00%
93	Sonaha	Indo-European	579	0.00%
94	Sindhi	Indo-European	518	0.00%
95	Dadeldhuri	Indo-European	488	0.00%
96	Byangshi	Sino-Tibetan	480	0.00%
97	Assamese	Indo-European	476	0.00%
98	Raute	Sino-Tibetan	461	0.00%
99	Saam (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	401	0.00%
100	Manange	Sino-Tibetan	392	0.00%
101	Dhuleli	Sino-Tibetan	347	0.00%
102	Phangduali (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	290	0.00%
103	Surel	Sino-Tibetan	287	0.00%
104	Malpande	Indo-European	247	0.00%
105	Chinese	Sino-Tibetan	242	0.00%
106	Khariya	Austro-Asiatic	238	0.00%
107	Kurmali	Indo-European	227	0.00%
108	Baram	Sino-Tibetan	155	0.00%
109	Lingkhim (Rai)	Sino-Tibetan	129	0.00%
110	Sadhani	Indo-European	122	0.00%
111	Kagate	Sino-Tibetan	99	0.00%
112	Dzongkha	Sino-Tibetan	80	0.00%
113	Bankariya	Sino-Tibetan	69	0.00%
114	Kaike	Sino-Tibetan	50	0.00%
115	Garhwali (Gadhawali)	Indo-European	38	0.00%
116	French	Indo-European	34	0.00%
117	Mizo	Sino-Tibetan	32	0.00%
118	Kuki	Sino-Tibetan	29	0.00%
119	Kusunda	Language Isolate	28	0.00%
120	Russian	Indo-European	17	0.00%
121	Spanish	Indo-European	16	0.00%
122	Nagamese	Sino-Tibetan	10	0.00%
123	Arabic	Afro-Asiatic	8	0.00%
−	Not reported	−	47,718	0.18%
−	Others	−	21,173	0.08%
Total			26,494,504	100%

Second language speakers (2011 Census)

Language	Count	Percentage
Nepali	8,682,499	32.77%
Maithili	1,225,950	4.62%
Hindi	195, 287	0.73%
Bhojpuri	159,518	0.60%
Tharu	84,748	0.32%
English	81,447	0.30%
Bajjika	60,863	0.23%
Urdu	45,766	0.17%
Awadhi	45,428	0.17%
Magar	42,952	0.16%
Tamang	33,450	0.12%
Nepal Bhasa (Newar)	32,594	0.12%
Sanskrit	2,975	0.01%
Others	190,327	0.72%
Total	10,883,804	41.04%

Official languages

Main article: Languages with official status in Nepal

Government office with signage in Ranjana script, Devanagari and English.

Nepali in Devanagari script is the official working language in federal level. The constitution has provisioned provinces to choose one or more than one official language(s) besides Nepali.^[2] According to the Language Commission of Nepal Maithili and Limbu are recommended to have official status in Province No. 1; Maithili, Bhojpuri and Bajjika in Province No. 2; Tamang and Nepal Bhasa in Bagmati Province; Magar and Gurung in Gandaki Province; Tharu and Awadhi in Lumbini Province; Nepali (Khas Bhasa)'s Karnali dialect and Magar in Karnali Province; Dotyali and Tharu in Sudurpashchim Province.^[3]

Scripts

Most of the languages are found exclusively in oral form. According to the Language Commission, fifteen scripts are currently in use in Nepal,^[3][11] including the following:

• Devanagari script
• Dham script
• Kaithi script
• Khema script
• Limbu script
• Magar Akkha script
• Mithilakshar script
• Nepal scripts
• Ol Chiki script
• Tamyig script

See also

• Ethnic groups in Nepal

Further reading

• Hale, Austin. 1973. Clause, sentence, and discourse patterns in selected languages of Nepal IV: word lists. SIL and Tribhuvan University Press (CLDF dataset on Zenodo doi:10.5281/zenodo.3537629)